Re: [PIUG List] U.S. application number format

Dear Alan
Although it will not take into account the finer details of the scheme
as given by Carl Oppedahl, you may find the following list helpful:
<http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/filingyr.htm>
This provides a concordance table such that, given a filing year, it is
possible to derive the series code. It shows that some series commenced
at a point in time which did not coincide with the end of the calendar year.
The one year to watch out for is 2003, when the regular filing series 10
grew from approx. 350,000 to 750,000 at the same time as the provisional
application series 60 increased from 437,000 to 532,000. I have
examples where a PCT filing based on a series 60 priority from 2003 was
erroneously put into the same family with other cases claiming priority
from the series 10 application with the same number and year. Clearly,
in this particular case, combining a year with a serial number leads to
an ambiguous result.
Stephen

--
Stephen Adams
Magister Ltd.
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Website : http://www.magister.co.uk

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Received on Mon Apr 21 2008 - 11:15:12